Banjo.



W. 0. SCHMICK.

BANJO.

APPLICATION HLED sEPT.23, 1914.

Patented Apr. 18,1916.

@Mme/who L @ttm/114:13

Wasahmzci@ @Mmm/ l ze? THE coLuMBlA PLANOGRAPH po., wASHlNuToN, n. C.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

WILLIAM 0. SCHMICK, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY.

BANJO.

Application filed September 23, 1914.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, IVILLTAM O. SCHMICK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Camden, in the county of Camden and State of NewV Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Banjos, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to musical instruments, and has for an object to provide a banjo having the usual drum head and strings and which, when properly played, will produce effective musical sounds.

The invention has, among other objects, the provision of a banjo which has certain resonant qualities due to its peculiar construction and arrangement of its parts, with suitable means for adjusting the tension of the head.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, constituting a part of this speciiication, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the banjo; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view, with the back removed; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the views, I provide a neck 10 attached to a body 10a consisting of a suitable hoop 11 of a substantially circular construction and which is strengthened by cross pieces 12 having their ends secured in diametrically opposed blocks 13 lying within and abutting against the inner wall of the circular hoop 11. A back 14 is provided for the body and incloses the cross pieces 12 and blocks 13 therein as shown in Fig. 3; and arranged upon the body and exteriorly thereof is a tailpiece 15 to which strings 16 are attached, said strings passing over a bridge 17 and extending longitudinally along the top of the neck 10 which preferably has a inger board 17 over which the strings pass. The head 18 is preferably made from a skin and is stretched taut over the upper edge of an annular hoop 27 and has its marginal edge wrapped around a ring 20 and in this manner the head overlies the open center of the said inner hoop 27. A resonant ring like rim 21 is supported on the blocks 13 and is provided with a series of openings Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

serial No. 863,193.

communicating with the interior of the body, which, by the provision of the head 18 and back 14, forms a chamber 23.

A tensioning plate of a substantially circular construction, and indicated by the numeral 24, is arranged concentrically of the head 18 and sounding board 21 and screws 25 pass through the tensioning plate and are in threaded engagement with a member 26 secured by means of suitable screws to the blocks 13, said tensioning plate 24 bearing against that portion of the head 18 which is wrapped around the ring 20 so that when the screws 25 are screwed upon the member 26 the head 18 will be stretched to increase its tension, while on the unscrewing of the screw 25 the said head 18 will become slackened. It will be seen that the bridge 17 rests upon the drum, said bridge having the strings 16 passing thereover as mentioned, so that the pressure of the strings on the bridge and the pressure of the bridge on the head will hold the hoop 27 in position upon the blocks 13, which are substantially L-shaped.

It will now be seen that when the instrument is played upon in the usual manner the sound resulting from the association in the operation of the strings and their relation to the head will pass from the chamber 23 to the openings 22, and it will be particularly noted that the openings are, therefore, formed in the front of the instrument rather than in the back 14, which is preferably made solid.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A banjo comprising a hollow body having a central opening, a neck fixed to the body, substantially L-shaped blocks arranged at intervals interiorly of the body, a rim fixed to the blocks to lie within said opening in the body and having apertures, a head stretched over said opening, a hoop supported by the blocks, a ring concentrically of the hoop and engaged with the head, and a circular tensioning member concentrically disposed with respect to the head and having adjustable connection with the blocks for acting upon the ring to vary the tension of the head.

A banjo comprising a hollow body having a central opening, a neck iXed to the body, substantially L-shaped blocks arranged at intervals interiorly of the body, a rim iixed to the blocks to lie within said openl Circular tensioning member concentriea'lly upon the ring for varying the tension of 1 J the head.

In testimony whereof I alix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

WILLIAM O SCHMICK.

ing in the body and having apertures, a head stretched over said opening, a hoop supported by the blocks, a ring concentrically of the hoop and engaged with the head, a

disposed with respect to the head, and adjustable elements passed through the tensioning member and engaged in the blocks whereby the said member Will act directly VtneSSeS:

EUGENE L. DooLING, ANNA THOMAS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

